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PR03130 24 Sep 2003
MSN UK Takes Action on Chat
London, UK, September 24 2003 – Gillian Kent, Director of MSN UK, today announced the closure of MSN UK Internet Chat with the aim of protecting users from unsolicited information such as spam and to help safeguard children from inappropriate communication online.
Gillian Kent commented: “As a responsible leader we felt it necessary to make these changes because online chat services are increasingly being misused. These changes will help protect MSN users from spam and inappropriate communication.”
Communication about the changes to Internet Chat rooms will be posted on several locations on MSN Chat from today.
John Carr, Director, Children & Technology Unit, NCH and Internet Adviser to the Children’s Charities’ Coalition for Internet Safety, said: “This is a momentous announcement and MSN should be congratulated on the leadership position it has taken. Here we have the world’s leading Internet service acknowledging that open free un-moderated chat cannot be made completely safe for consumers and children. I hope this move will give a huge boost to industry-wide efforts to achieve a safer experience for on-line users. Meanwhile I think every other chat provider in the UK is going to have to reflect on how, or indeed whether, they continue with their own open access chat services.”
Chris Atkinson, Policy Advisor, NSPCC commented: “This is a welcome step towards protecting children online. NSPCC hopes that this will encourage the Internet industry to build on MSN’s announcement and continue to work together to improve the internet experience for children.”
Today’s initiatives are the latest in a series of measures to be announced by MSN and Microsoft in the battle against inappropriate use of the Internet. In June of this year Microsoft announced a global initiative to tackle spam by a co-ordinated approach to technology, enforcement, education and legislation.
The closure of MSN chat rooms on the MSN UK site is one of a number of ongoing initiatives to prioritise the safety of children using the service. MSN’s dedicated child safety site http://www.msn.co.uk/staysafe is an excellent education tool for parents in helping them to ensure they protect their children online. MSN and its dedicated child protection officer has, and will continue to work closely with the Home Office Task Force on Child Safety, the Police, children’s charities and industry watchdogs on the best long term solutions to stamp out the industry wide issue of child abuse online.
Notes to Editors
Third party referees supporting this announcement are:
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MSN attracts more than 350 million unique users worldwide and 11.6 million visitors per month in the UK (Nielsen June 2003). Available in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. Best of breed services available on msn.co.uk include MSN Hotmail, the UK's most popular free web-based e-mail service with 7.7 million users in the UK and over 130 million users worldwide (MSN Internal data); MSN Messenger Service, the UK's number one instant messaging service on the internet with 6.3 million monthly users (Nielsen June 2003) and over 100 million active users worldwide (MSN Internal data).
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